“Taking Care of Livestock” plays off of the Bachman-Turner Overdrive song released in 1973 – a generation before any of the brothers were born.

“We like the song from pep band in high school, (and) wanted to do a different style, reach out to older audiences,” said Greg Peterson, the oldest brother and spokesman for the group.

“But the main reason we choose a song is its ability to be parodied,” he said. “(It’s an) easy song to change lyrics.”

Since the brothers released their first YouTube hit, “I’m Farming and I Grow It,” three years ago, they have become social media sweethearts and used the renown to spread the word about life on the farm and the importance of food production.

Their other songs include “Chore” (a parody of Katy Perry’s “Roar”) and “A Fresh Breath of Farm Air” (“Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”).

The brothers – Greg, Nathan and Kendal – have traveled around the world and performed for tens of thousands of people at events like the Sunbelt Ag Expo. But they still also appear at small local events, like an Animal Quality Assurance Training in Broken Bow, Neb., last week for 170 kids.

The videos attract a huge audience. “I’m Farming and I Grow It” has been watched more than 9 million times on YouTube and 230,000 people have “Liked” them on Facebook.

That audience didn’t appear by accident.

The brothers promote their videos and engage their audience with personal messages, blogs about issues and even teases for upcoming videos.

In the past, the videos have featured just the brothers and their family and friends, but for “Taking Care of Livestock,” the group solicited on-the-farm photos from people around the country. Culver’s, a restaurant chain that champions farmers, sponsored the video.

“This was a six-month project, mainly because we were working with Culver's and their time line, but also because it was a lot of work,” Greg Peterson said. “We had people send us photos for about 2 months.

“By the time it was all said and done we had almost 3,000 submissions.”

The work gives the brothers a project to work on together, along with their little sister, Laura. Originally the videographer, Laura sits in on drums for “Taking Care of Livestock.”

Nathan and Kendal are studying agriculture at Kansas State University, where Greg also went. With finals behind them, they headed home this month to begin a summer of work on the farm.

“We’ve really enjoyed the semester here at K-State,” Kendal Peterson said in a video posted to Facebook. “We are looking forward to being back in the fall. But we’ll get to work a lot this summer. That’s what we are learning all this stuff for is to get back to the farm.”

For more about the brothers, their videos and their educational materials about farming, go to www.petersonfarmbros.com.